Featured Blu-ray and DVD Review: Toy Story 4

October 7, 2019

Toy Story 4 - Buy from Amazon: DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack, or 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack
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Toy Story 3 gave the franchise such a perfect send off that when Toy Story 4 was first announced it was met with a lot of trepidation. Most assumed it would be impossible to live up to its predecessor and many were worried it would fail at that task so much that it would retroactively make the franchise worse. Was it able to do the impossible? If not, was it at least able to avoid being a disaster?

The Movie

The film begins almost a decade before the main plot with a rescue attempt where Woody and the gang rescue RC. The rescue is successful, but just as they are just are about to complete it, Bo Peep is taken away and given to another family.

Flash forward nine years and we find the toys in Bonnie’s room. Dolly is in charge here, leaving Woody without his usually leadership role. Furthermore, Bonnie doesn’t play with Woody a lot and has made Jessie the sheriff. Bonnie has to go to kindergarten orientation before school starts and she’s not happy about it. Woody is worried enough that he thinks a toy should go with her, but that could get Bonnie in trouble for breaking the no toys rule. Despite this, Woody goes. He even helps her during craft time by sneaking some items onto her desk. Bonnie takes the items and creates Forky. She seems to love her new creation even taking it home with her. Woody thinks it’s a job well done, until Forky comes to life.

Woody and Forky get home, but Forky isn’t handling his new life very well. He was made from a spork and he still thinks he should be treated like a spork, used once and then thrown in the trash. ... Do people really only use plastic cutlery once? I wash plastic forks till they break then recycle them. Anyhoo, what follows is a hilarious montage of Forky trying to throw himself into the trash and Woody trying to save him, all while not getting caught moving around. Worse still, Bonnie and her family go on a week-long vacation, one last road trip before the school year officially starts. This gives Forky a lot more opportunities to throw himself away. Eventually he succeeds jumping out of the window of the RV while it is driving along a lonely road. Woody decides jump after him hoping to make it to the RV park where the family will be staying before morning.

While walking, Woody asks Forky why he wants to go to the trash. Short answer, it makes him feel warm and comfortable. Woody explains to Forky that being Bonnie’s toy gives Bonnie those same feelings and suddenly Forky gets it. Forky understands what it means to be a kid’s favorite toy and he’s excited to be that for Bonnie. The two race off to the RV park and there’s nothing that can distract them now... well, almost nothing.

Just before reaching the RV park, Woody spots something in the window of an antique store. It’s Bo Peep’s lamp, but no Bo Peep. Woody decides to investigate and Forky has no choice but to go along. They don’t find Bo Peep, but instead run into Gabby Gabby and her ventriloquist dummy army. At first she seems nice, but she quickly reveals her voice box is broken and wants Woody’s, which is sown inside of him. Woody does manage to escape, this time, but Gabby is after him and has Forky as a hostage. He needs help and soon finds a true ally, Bo Peep.

At this point, we’ve run into spoilers.

Review

Toy Story 4 isn’t as good as Toy Story 3, but it is much closer than I thought it would be. In fact, it actually managed to have a similar emotional impact of the previous films, while continuing the growth the characters. We are getting into spoiler territory here... Woody has always been about doing everything for your kid. That’s the highest calling a toy can have. He treated his fellow toys as family, but it is doing what’s right for your kid that always takes precedent. So when Bonnie doesn’t play with him like Andy did, he has what is in effect a mid-life crisis. So Woody learning to move on from being some kid’s toy to helping toys like Gabby Gabby find kids of their own is a huge leap for him. Without this bit of character growth, Toy Story 4 would still be a fun movie, but it would be a disappointment compared to the rest of the franchise, as the franchise has always had an emotional core that was aimed at the adults watching the movie with the kids more than the kids themselves.

The film also has the usual elements from all great Pixar movies, starting with a fun voice cast. I especially love the new additions, as Christina Hendricks gives Gabby Gabby the pathos needed to be a menacing villain, but she also gives her a compelling story where you partially want her to win. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are absolutely hilarious as Ducky and Bunny. And since I’m Canadian, I’m patriotically obligated to love Duke Caboom.

The Extras

The two disc set has an audio commentary on Disc one with Josh Cooley and Mark Nielsen. There is also a six-minute featurette called Bo Rebooted, a character that hasn’t been in the franchise for nearly a decade. Toy Stories is a six-minute look at the toys hanging around the Pixar office.

Disc two starts with Let’s Ride with Ally Maki, a six-minute look at the process to record voices. It’s a lot of work. Woody and Buzz is a four-minute look at the central relationship of the Franchise. Anatomy of a Scene is a ten-minute making of featurette that focuses on an early scene in the playground. There are two Toy Views, which are short looks at sets from a Toy’s point of view. There are five Toy Box segments, which is a looks at the new characters in the movie, both from the perspective of crew and the voice talent. There are 28 minutes of deleted scenes. That’s just over an hour of extras on the second disc.

The Verdict

Toy Story 4 is arguably the weakest installment in the franchise, but this is a franchise that has been nominated for nine Oscars winning two of them, three if you count the first film’s special award. Had the Best Feature-Length Animated film been around when the franchise begun, I can almost guarantee the series would have a three wins already. This film will almost certainly be nominated for that prize. Additionally, the extras on the DVD / Blu-ray / 4K are more than enough to be a Pick of the Week contender.

C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Video Review, Toy Story 4, Toy Story, Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack, Keanu Reeves, Josh Cooley, Tony Hale, Bonnie Hunt, Mark Nielsen, Annie Potts, Christina Hendricks, Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Madeleine McGraw, Jack McGraw, Ally Maki